Antidote: Kiba x Tamaki
by JULERZZ
Summary: This is how I see Kiba and Tamaki, the cat chick seen with Kiba in the last ending chapter of the Naruto series, meeting. This is just an experimentation of my writing style; I'm not sure how far this will get.
1. Chapter 1: Litter Box

So... Naruto ended. Sad T_T

But, it was pretty drawn out, so I'm grateful for that too. In case you didn't know, Tamaki is the cat girl Kiba is seen hanging out with in the last chapter. I honestly don't know much about her, and I don't think anyone does either. This is just how I envisioned the two meeting and getting together.

At the moment, it's rated T because of language. It won't be a smut, because I can't write it when I know so little about her. I don't know how far this will go either; I'm just experimenting. And... I'm a fan of KibaHina. This is just to add a little to the untold story of opposites attracting.

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She had turned me into an idiot. _Baka_, I was cursed.

I loved her. I still did. Even when she broke up with me, left me, to date Naruto.

I couldn't blame Naruto though. He was my pal; we went way back. He treasured me as his companion, and I know he didn't mean to do what he did.

It still hurt.

In all honesty, I blamed Sasuke. I blamed that red-eyed bastard, and I cursed him. Because when he came back with the rest of us from the war, he swept that dumb-eyed Sakura off her feet and stole her from Naruto, knowing very well what he was doing. And Naruto, in his lonely self, got close to Hinata. I didn't think much of it at first, but that was my fault. She slipped away from me like water through the fingers.

Naruto still apologized to me, every time he saw me. I knew it hadn't been his intention to actually get to know her, and to fall in love with her. Seriously, who could resist Hinata, once they knew who she really was? I told him not to think much about it, because when he did, it reminded me of what I lost. My better half.

When Hinata had told me what she had decided, I had gotten down on my knees and pleaded. I begged.

"Hinata, please."

She had cried so hard. I had always tried so hard not to make her cry; maybe it was an omen. "Kiba… you know how I've always felt."

Yeah, I knew. I knew that she had given up when he had left for Sakura. And she probably would've forgotten about all of that, too. But fate hated me. Even though she had been truly happy with me, I guess it hadn't been enough. I wasn't good enough. She was the heiress to the most noble clan in Konoha and fitting to be the match of the Hokage.

"Hinata, you'll only be second in his heart." I was desperate. I was so desperate to keep her. "But, you've always been number one in mine." I was telling the truth. I had never wanted anyone but her.

"I treasured you." I added, I was trying to sound strong, but my voice cracked and broke.

Hinata shook her head, and her eggplant hair hid her eyes from me. "I know."

"I love you." I whispered. I held her hands in mine.

She was sobbing, weakly trying to tug her fingers from mine. "I love you too. But, I've already decided."

That was it. That was the end of everything for me.

My sister stopped talking to Hinata and her family. My mom tried everything she could to get me out of my room. But, I was still locked in there. If I ever left, it was out the window and off the roof.

Surprisingly, Tenten was the only one I could talk to. We were never that close. But, the few times we spoke, she was always understanding. She never pitied me because she knew I didn't pity her for her loss either. She had inherited her aunt's business in an attempt to distract herself from Neji's death. It was worse for her, for sure. Because even though I loved Hinata so much I could die, at least Hinata would be truly happy. And that made it slightly better. But for Tenten, Neji was gone forever. She would never see his smile, never feel his touch, never bear his children like she had wanted to.

I wandered out again. Akamaru was snoozing on the bed, but it wasn't like I could sleep anyways. I didn't have a particular destination; I just sorta wandered. I hopped around on people's balconies and looked down at all the faces, illuminated by the small stall lights. I saw Choji and Ino, out on a late-night snack excursion most likely. And I also saw Sasuke, but he was with Kakashi, deep in conversation. I resisted the urge to unzip my fly and take a long, steaming piss on him.

I found myself a nice, disgusting bar to sit at and ordered a round of saki. And then another. After a few rounds, I think the host just gave me the rest of them free. Because my bill was surprisingly low for how fucking drunk I was.

I stumbled around, and I saw Choji and Ino look at me in shock. Choji came up and steadied me. Dude, he was solid. Choji was more solid than the earth I stood on.

"Kiba, let me walk you home."

I shook my head. "Nah, man. You've got your girl. Walk her home." I wasn't trying to be rude; I just didn't want Ino to fall prey to some leacher. She wasn't all that bad, really. She was bitchy and sorta vain, but I knew she was really tender and caring towards her companions. And she really cherished Choji. I could tell by the way she looked at him because that's the way I looked at Hinata.

I wobbled off before he could start after me. Though Choji was strong, I was still much quicker, even when I was totally intoxicated.

I hopped onto some roof, but I had to steady myself. I puked into someone's potted plant. Shit, I probably would have to come back and apologize tomorrow. If I even made it that far.

Onto the next balcony. I accidently knocked some chair over with a loud clatter, and a girl slammed her window open. "Oi! What the hell are you doing?"

I didn't know this chick, but "Kami… you stink bitch." She did, she smelled like cats.

I puked all over the ground.

"Shit, shit shit!" She climbed outside and grabbed me. I was still puking, and she hit me on the back hard. I don't think she was trying to hurt me though, just making sure I didn't choke on my own vomit. "Hey, don't lean back."

She propped me up in the chair I previously knocked over, and ran back inside. When she came back, she shoved a cup of water under my mouth. "Drink this."

I did, but I choked half of it back up, all over my shirt. I dropped the cup; thank god it was plastic. The girl avoided the puddle of puke and went back inside. She came back with some sorta bun, bread-like thing.

"Eat."

I laughed as I took a bite. It was pretty good; it was probably handmade. "How many drunks do you take care of?"

She didn't answer, but she just waited for me to finish.

I stood up suddenly, and knocked the chair right back over. She grimaced. "Really…."

"I'm sorry." I lurched over the railing and back onto the roof. Things were less fuzzy now; I could keep my balance for the most part. "I swear, I'll find you later and clean this up."

I hopped off quickly. I really did feel bad.

But then I realized the next morning that I had no idea where she had lived.

I was massively hung over, and my breath tasted foul. Akamaru looked over at me and barked.

"Yeah, yeah, I fucked up."

My dog was more responsible than I was. What in the actual fuck.

I got up slowly, and winced as my head throbbed. I gargled and rinsed my mouth out, and brushed slowly, so that the toothpaste comically leaked out my mouth and all over the sink. Hinata thought it had been cute; she laughed at it a lot.

Fuck. No. Stop.

Stop thinking about her. She was my poison, and I had no antidote.

My mom knocked on my door lightly. "Kiba?"

"Yeah, come in."

She looked at me, but she didn't say anything about my condition. My mom understood too. When my dad left, all she ever did was cry. That hurt worse than when he would hit me.

"Choji is on the phone."

Probably to check up on me. I sighed and went into the hallway to grab the phone. "Yo."

"Hey, Kiba. Did you make it home okay?"

I smiled weakly. He was a good guy. "Yeah, man. Thanks."

He was quiet for a second. "Do you want to go get barbeque?"

Man, Choji really was perfect. Ino had the right idea; maybe I should fall in love with him too. "Yeah, sure."

"It's good hangover food." He added.

I barked out laughing. "No kidding. I'll meet you there in a sec."

"Kay."

I hung up.

My mom peeked her head out from the door. "You going back to the apartment?"

No. Never. That place smelled like her, reminded me of her. She still had her things there, too. I would be totally fine living at my mom's for the rest of forever.

"Choji invited me for lunch."

She smiled. I think she was glad I was going out, even if it wasn't back to my own place. "Alright, have fun."

Akamaru padded along, but he didn't come into the restaurant with me. He was heading out to one of those big empty fields, to chase rabbits and roll around in the grass. Choji was sitting there with Shikamaru.

"Hey."

Shikamaru grinned and poured a cup of tea for me. The cup was hot against my fingers, and it felt nice. "Kiba, you've lost some weight. Getting trim, right?"

Shikamaru was smart. He knew that wasn't it. He was discretely checking up on me.

"Haha, no. Still eating the same as always." Why were they always worrying? I wasn't going to starve myself to death. If I was going to go, I would go quickly, painlessly. I already had too much pain in my life.

Choji was treating today, and he insisted we order anything we wanted. I ordered a large side of ribs, bone in. Because hey, I was basically a dog too.

I ate until I was at the point of puking all over again. Afterwards, we drank hot tea and chatted. Shikamaru admitted he was planning to propose to his girlfriend.

Temari. God, what was he thinking. Sister of the Kazekage, with a seat on his council and a matter in all the affairs. Such a violent chick. She was scary.

"Now?" Sure, Temari was a few years older than us, but Shikamaru was still young. We were barely in our twenties.

He laughed dryly. "I want kids. But she doesn't."

Whoa, whoa. What? Shikamaru, wanting kids? Even Choji seemed startled. I barked out in laughter. "You would be a weird-ass dad, Shika."

But he was just smiling. "She said she would consider it if I married her. She really doesn't like kids, though."

Choji was smiling. "I'm happy for you."

I thought it was ridiculous. But after I pondered over it a little bit, I realized it wasn't so crazy. I would've done the same for Hinata. I would've glued a ring on that finger in a heartbeat.

I thanked Choji for the meal.

I was looking around for Akamaru, with my nose of course, but then that scent drifted over me. Cats. Smelly, stinky, raggedy felines.

I could smell her.

I padded around until I found her.

She was sitting at a café, sipping at a coffee and reading a small book. I hadn't paid much attention to what she had looked like that night, but she was actually quite pretty. She had long, brown hair, chocolate eyes. Tall, slender but with some bangin' curves.

I crept up beside her, but I didn't know what to say. She didn't notice me either; she was too immersed in whatever she was reading.

I awkwardly cleared my throat, and she wielded around wildly. I think she was about to punch me, but she stopped when she saw me.

"Oh. It's you." She didn't sound angry or upset. Just mildly surprised.

"Um… hi." I reached my hand up to wave, but why would I wave if I was right in front of her? Was I retarded? So, I slowly lowered it.

She smiled, and then unexpectedly put her hand on my forehead. I almost cringed away at the touch, because of the cat smell that lingered on her clothes. But, underneath it all, she smelled like warm vanilla. I was perfectly still and shocked as she patted me down, checked my pulse, poked at my neck a little bit.

"What are you, a doctor?" I said uncomfortably.

"I'm a vet."

Great. An animal doctor. How appropriate.

"Are you feeling better?" I would've been mad that she was treating me as such, but she looked genuinely concerned.

I scratched my head. "Yeah. Sorry about that… I can come over and help you clean it up?"

She laughed, and waved it off with a slender hand. "It's fine. I've already taken care of it."

I felt like a jerk. I didn't know this girl, but she was still kind and honest. I was that weirdo stranger who puked all over the place and scrammed.

I guess I may as well introduce myself so she could make fun of me to her friends later. "I'm Kiba."

"Inuzuka. I know." She pointed to my cheeks "Your sister, Hana, used to come to our store."

Oh. Even better. She reached out her hand. "Call me Tamaki."

She invited me to sit with her. I paid for her coffee, and she let me.

Tamaki wrinkled her nose at me. "And you said I smell."

"You do." I remarked dryly.

"Dog boy."

"Cat girl."

I glared at her across the table. "It's not like I don't like dogs." She added. "I'm just a cat person. I prefer them."

Maybe we could get along then.


	2. Chapter 2: Under Lamplights

Hi, I realized I didn't put any notes in my first chapter, and I'm also lazy as fuck so I'm just gonna smash them all here.

I am not a fan of this pairing (at least not yet), and I am a KibaHina fan. But, I think this is an interesting pairing none the less, and it just makes me curious with all these unexplained relationships. So, this is just my take on it.

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Tamaki and I had coffee, once a week. Akamaru was such a fucking traitor though. He liked her because she brought these homemade treats from her store. So he would put his head in her lap and she'd pet his head, his big fat tail wagging around and his tongue lolling out. She didn't even care when he drooled all over her. She just laughed absentmindedly and Akamaru would just grin at me. The damn mutt got more action than I did.

What I found out about Tamaki was pretty simple. She and her grandmother owned a pet store nearby; her mother had been a great kunoichi who fought in the Anbu with Tsunade. She died after Tamaki was born though, and her father left.

She liked her coffee black and croissants with apricot jam. Most times, we would split a large croissant, which I paid for, and she would buy me a coffee. I wasn't as hardcore though; I liked it with milk and sugar. She liked to tease me about it.

Apparently, Tamaki was pretty well known. A lot of people went to her store to buy pet supplies. And she was the only operating vet in the village.

Shikamaru convinced me to take her out for lunch with them.

_Actually_, correction. Temari convinced Shikamaru to convince me. Shikamaru didn't care.

She liked vegetarian dumplings and spicy beef stew. She and Choji talked medicine, Temari and Shikamaru were arguing among themselves. But, even though their conversation was heated, they were smiling the whole time.

I was so envious.

Ino got me another cup of tea, to rescue me from my brooding and myself. She winked at me. "She's pretty cute, eh?"

Tamaki was pretty. But that wasn't it. I guess we got along because she was honest, and I was brutally frank. I gave her crap, and she gave me crap right back. Also, the smell of musky vanilla underneath that cat stench was comforting.

I did like her. I will admit to that. She was easy to talk to, but she wasn't dense and she wasn't stupid. She wasn't superficial, and she wasn't narcissistic.

But, I still thought about Hinata too much. My wounds were too deep to start anything new. I think Ino knew this because she didn't say anything else. She didn't push the matter, which was unlike the old Ino.

I really was happy for Choji. I had to hand it to him, he did good.

Tamaki and Temari were gossiping or something. I didn't want to listen in, but what she said I couldn't ignore.

"I heard the Hokage is getting married."

Shit. The tea cup in my hand shattered. The broken pieces between my shaking fingers looked just like me.

Choji frantically looked at me, and Tamaki glanced over. I guess the look on my face shut her up because her eyes widened a little and she looked quizzically at the rest of them. Nobody said anything.

I stood up suddenly. I hated it. This was pathetic. I was pathetic. Everybody was staring at me like I was going to break down and cry. I wouldn't though.

"I'll see you guys later."

Tamaki started off after me, but Temari hushed her gently and pulled her back down. That was probably the first time I had seen her looked shocked and hurt. They were going to give her explanations. And she was going to pity me. Our friendship would probably end there. I didn't need pity.

I started avoiding the coffee shop. I avoided my friends, too. But, that wasn't exactly new. Even Akamaru was peeved at me. He wanted to see Tamaki, and he mostly wanted to eat those treats she had. But still, I wouldn't comply. I told him to go find her himself; it would be easy for him. But, he was faithful, and I couldn't be angry at him after that.

It had been a week or two. I was running a few errands for my mom as courtesy for taking up space and food in the house.

I saw Temari looking outside the shop window. I was going to ignore her, but her puffy eyes told me something was up.

"Temari."

She barely glanced at me. "Hey, Kiba."

"What's wrong?"

Even though she was wickedly tough and had a thorny personality to match, I knew why Shikamaru loved her. I knew why he chose her as his mate. So, it bothered me that she was unhappy.

It came out like a whisper. "He proposed."

I grinned. "You should be happy." Right? Girls liked these things, I thought.

She shook her head, her little pigtails bobbing around. "He wants kids. His family is expecting grandchildren."

Temari. Desert bitch. Fan-wielding queen. Sister of the god-fucking-damn Kazekage and part of the horrific Sand Sibling Trio. And she was afraid of popping a few babies out her vagina.

Still, I tried to be understanding. Let's be honest; I was a dude, I didn't have to worry about these sort of things. "If you're not ready yet, he can wait. He's the heir to the Nara clan. His parents will understand." Maybe not. His father was pretty lazy and understanding. He wouldn't care either way. It was probably the mother.

Yeah. It was definitely her.

Temari kept shaking her head. There was something I was missing. "It's not that… Kiba. Things have happened to me. I don't even know if I can _have_ kids."

Oh. Shit. That was pretty bad. If you couldn't mate, you couldn't have kids. If you couldn't have kids, you couldn't pass on your genes, your inheritance. In the Inuzuka clan, these were all bad. There was nothing worse than being unable to pass down your strength, your bloodline.

"Have you told him yet?"

She shook her head again.

I sighed, "You should tell him."

Temari started crying. "What if he leaves me?"

Which translated into: what if she turned out like me. Having one of me was bad enough. Having another would be much, much worse. Especially if it was Temari.

I gave her a squeeze around the shoulders. "Oh, c'mon Temari. Shikamaru loves you so damn much. Sure, he might want kids. But, he cherishes you so much that if you can't, it won't matter."

I winked at her wolfishly. "Besides, you've never tried right? Practice yields results most of the time."

She turned bright red. I had to admit, they probably didn't have sex quite that often because Temari was busy with her own village's affairs.

"Okay… I'll trust your word." And she should. I was pretty good with these sorta things.

She wiped her face with the back of her hand.

"Oh, by the way, Tamaki is waiting for you at that café."

Shit. It was like, nine at night. "You're joking."

She shook her head. "No. She wants to apologize to you, but you keep fucking avoiding her." She laughed. "Tamaki is damn persistant, you know."

Fuck. I guess I had to go see her then.

I went out to look for her. But, when I found her, she was yelling.

Not at me though. At these guys. They were harassing her. What did she expect? A pretty young thing, sitting all alone at night. God, she was stubborn and perhaps stupid too.

I wanted to wait for them to leave her alone. I knew she wouldn't want me to get involved. But, one of the guys started to yank her out of the chair and that's when I drew the line. Women were to be respected; not abused.

"Hey, hey guys." I lazed over and draped my arm around Tamaki suddenly. She jumped out of her skin, but I grabbed her hand with mine. She was shaking, and her fingers were cold. Just how long had she been waiting?

There were three of them. True, I could probably take them. But, it would be painful and dangerous for Tamaki. Also, I kinda didn't want to get fucked up.

So I did what I did best.

Make shit up.

She was pale and obviously scared. The guys were scrutinizing me up and down, and I pulled her closer into my side.

"This one yours?" The ugliest one asked me. God, he has bigger canines than Akamaru.

I nodded, looked down at Tamaki, and nudged her gently. "Yeah, she's mine."

One of the others wrinkled his nose in disdain at me. "Didn't know your boyfriend was an Inuzuka, Cat-chan."

"I am, I swear. We go way back." I winked at her, and she smiled faintly.

When they looked as though they still didn't believe me, I flexed my arm menacingly. "I claim her." I growled. "She's mine, and if you want her, you'll have to fight for it."

I grip tightened around Tamaki; I was prepared to shove her out of the way and beat some ass.

With mixed expressions on their faces, they glanced at one another for a moment.

"Okay... Later... Cat-chan."

They left. Actually, they ran off. We were known for being dogs, but we were tough as shit too. You didn't pick a fight for us unless you were desperate or had a death wish.

Once they were out of sight, I let out a sigh of relief and relaxed my hold. I grabbed her shoulders and shook her really hard. "You fucking idiot. You could've gotten really messed up there."

Tamaki was still pale as a ghost, but she shoved me off and stuck her tongue out. "A gentleman doesn't make a lady wait."

She had a point.

"I'm really sorry about that." In retrospect, I was ashamed of myself. All I did these days was run away.

"I'm sorry too."

We were quiet for a moment, and I couldn't see her face that well due to the dim lighting.

"I'm sorry about the other day, too. I didn't know that happened." She added softly.

I shrugged it off. But, the wounds still ached, "It's fine."

She laughed, "You're a damn liar." She wiped at her face. Was she wiping away tears? Who was she crying for? Herself? Or was it for me.

I was startled to see a smear of blood on her cheek.

"Shit, you're bleeding."

"What?" She was just as shocked as I was. I looked over and checked her face. All clear. It took us awhile to figure out that it was from the palm of her hand. One of the guys had probably scratched her by accident... Or maybe on purpose. Who knew their intent.

She tried to wipe it off on her skirt but I grabbed her wrist gently and dug around in my pocket for a handkerchief. I pressed it against her palm and tied it clumsily. "I wish I had some disinfectant. I don't know how nasty those guys were..."

She laughed again. She liked to laugh. And I liked it when she did. "You don't have to do that. It'll ruin it."

And I started laughing that she was worried over something so trivial. "I'm your strong, Inuzuka boyfriend, Tamaki. I gotta take good care of you." I joked with her. She laughed at that, too.

But then, she watched me carefully.

"Are you willing?"

I didn't understand. "What?"

"To date me."

Ah, shit. She was serious.

I didn't know how to answer, but she was patient. "Be honest. It won't hurt me."

I liked that about her, too.

"You are attractive." I flushed because that came out all wrong. Why was that the first thing I said? I sounded like such a superficial guy. Because for her, there were more prominent redeeming qualities. Like her laugh. And the way she teased me, but still pet Akamaru and paid for my coffee. The way she slid off the stool when we parted at the café every week.

"I mean, I'm attracted to you."

She smirked. "Glad I'm not unattractive."

Not a good start so far. "Physically and emotionally." I added. That wasn't a lie. I was comfortable around her, and what was most important was that she was equally comfortable around me.

I wasn't sure if she believed me.

"Really." I added gently. I reached out to catch a wild strand of her thick hair and tuck it behind her ear. It was her hair that smelled like vanilla, even though her clothes reeked of cat.

She smiled, "But, it's not enough."

I thought about what I told Hinata when I lost her. "I don't want you to be second in my eyes. You deserve better."

She really did. I felt bad that she chose me. I was broken, used goods.

She wasn't upset by this; in fact, I thinks he was grateful. "Thanks, Kiba."

"But when you're first, I'll ask you in a heartbeat."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah."

She gave me that little half-smile of hers. "Deal."

She started to walk off, and I tried to stop her. "Do you need me to walk you home?"

Tamaki just laughed, "We're not together yet, dog-boy." She waved at me, and I cussed at her but couldn't help but smile anyways.


	3. Chapter 3: Operation

So... surprisingly this is still going.

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The funny thing was, I wasn't worried that the whole situation would be awkward. Hanging out with Tamaki came naturally, kinda like when I was with the boys or my team.

Well, not my team anymore. Shino was fine; we still went out to eat and visit Kurenai-sensei and play with her kid. But, whenever I saw Hinata, I basically turned tail and ran in the opposite direction.

I still met Tamaki for coffee, more often now than before. She never asked to see me, and I never asked to see her. But, we both knew.

What had changed is that I started visiting her store. It was a small little thing, but they had every sorta treat, toy, medicine, accessory you needed. Usually, I bought medicine for my mom. Of course, I got Akamaru a couple treats; Tamaki always gave them to us free.

Sometimes, when I went and visited her, there would be a few boys at the register flirting with her. A few times, I saw a small box of chocolates sitting on the table on the corner table behind the counter. Once, there were a half-dozen daisies, carefully wrapped in pale blue paper. It was Ino's work, no doubt.

I never said anything, but in truth, it made me mad.

It's said that dogs are as smart as man, if not smarter.

Obviously, this gene skipped Akamaru.

I don't know exactly what happened; he wouldn't admit what he did. But, from what I could gather, he ate something out in the fields. Some random thing. He said he was curious, which I guess equaled to _eating it_.

When I woke up, I found him sprawled out on the ground. I normally would take no notice of it, but when I accidently tripped on his tail, he didn't stir at all. Usually, he would lazily snap at me. Or bite me. Not hard of course. Just enough to make me laugh and apologize.

But, it was like he was dead. And, I actually thought he was dead because I started shaking him and when he didn't respond, I started screaming my head off, and Hana stumbled over. She was about to slap me really hard, but one of her Haimarus stopped her.

She kneeled down quickly.

"He's not dead."

She was a medical ninja, yes. "So, heal him." Losing Akamaru would be like ripping my limbs off. It would be the worse kind of pain, worse than losing Hinata.

"Humans are my specialty… I'm not quite sure…"

I didn't have time for her to figure things out. I lugged fat-ass Akamaru over my shoulders and ran out the house. My mom screamed after me, but I couldn't hear her over the pounding in my head.

Everything hurt. Especially my back because Akamaru was so damn heavy. "I'm putting you on a fucking diet after this."

His tail twitched a little bit, meaning he heard me. I was running as fast as I could to the only person I knew who had the skill and knowledge to help me. To save me from certain, emotional destruction.

Tamaki.

By the time I got there, I was half dragging Akamaru. People were staring at me, and I think a few of them were trying to help me, but I just yelled at them and they ran off.

The door to the shop was still locked; it wasn't opened yet. But, I banged on the door until splinters were flying, and this old prune opened up.

She took one look at me, and then ushered me inside.

"Tamaki!" She yelled.

She came flying down the stairs, her hair unbrushed and a piece of bread in her mouth. "What!?"

But, when she saw me, she quickly tied her hair back and pulled on a pair of gloves. Her grandma, from what I can take from the situation, helped me pull Akamaru on a stretcher and transfer him to the next room on the operating table.

The first thing Tamaki did was poor this vial of evil-smelling crap down Akamaru's jaw. That got him kicking.

Once I squeezed what had happened out of him, I tried to explain it to Tamaki. But, she didn't need it.

"Yeah, I got it."

Crap. So, did that mean she understood our conversations? Did she know every time I commented on her ass? Or that rack?

Oh god. Embarrassing as shit, that's what this was.

Tamaki didn't take much notice of me, and she pointed to the cabinet nailed to the wall as she started buckling Akamaru's paws in place. "I need a red bottle from that."

The prune-lady shuffled over and started pulling jars and glasses off the shelf.

He didn't like that one bit, being tied up. She had to collar him, and he tried to bite her. But, Tamaki just slapped him on the nose and kept on going; she wasn't phased one bit.

She grabbed a small box from underneath the operating table and took out a small container. From it, was a bunch of needles and syringes. She took one out, flicked it a few times, and then handed it to me.

"Stick him with it." She pointed to his shoulder. I did what she asked of me.

She went over to prune-lady and took over what ever was happening. I just watched her, sweat beading on her forehead and brows narrowed and eyes focused.

"You need to leave," Prune-lady said.

I shook my head. "Like hell I am." I would never, ever leave Akamaru alone in a situation like this. They would have to kill me.

She was about to protest, but Tamaki interrupted. "Ma, he can stay. It'll be fine."

Prune-lady didn't say anything else. She just shuffled over to me, patted my hand and gave it a little squeeze, and then she shuffled out.

"Where is she going?"

"Out front. She'll take care of business."

Right. I was interfering with her work.

She seemed to have heard my thoughts. "It's fine."

She laid out a bunch of tools. I think I was going to throw up; she was planning to cut him open. "I've got to get it out, and then force what's been absorbed out of his system." She explained. I knew it was necessary. I trusted her.

That didn't mean I liked it though.

How much time had passed? I wasn't quite sure. I tried not to doze off or zone out, but it was hard. I was exhausted, emotionally and mentally drained. There was blood, everywhere. It was on her clothes, in her hair, smeared on her skin.

I gotta say, Akamaru's insides were gross.

When she fished whatever he had eaten out, I still didn't know what it was. Some sort of black mess. It wasn't a turd or anything, because those were pretty easy to identify. She cleaned him up, gave him a couple more shots of whatever, and then started sewing him up.

After the long row of stiches was completed, she snipped the rest of the line off and asked me to get her a bucket of water. We gently lowered him into the tub, and she washed him off with a sponge, careful to avoid irritating the wound.

After we placed him on a clean mattress, she dropped down on the floor and leaned against the wall. I went over to her, and she shakingly held out her hand.

"Help me up."

I pulled her to her feet, but her knees buckled from underneath her. Cussing, she tried to steady herself on my arm, but, I picked her up like a child and she turned red as I carried her up the stairs.

"Take me to the bathroom." She demanded.

I dropped her off at the door, and she kept herself up by the counter of the sink. She pointed to my now bloodstained clothes. "There are some clothes in the closet of the room at the end of the hall. They should fit you."

The clothes were probably her father's; there were too many of them for them to be the one's of a past lover. A few of the things fit okay, so I changed into them. Then, I sat on the floor and curled my legs up to my chest, waiting for her to finish the shower. I could hear the water patter down on her skin, and I could hear her softly humming to herself.

I must have fallen asleep, because Tamaki was hovering over me, shaking my arm. "Kiba?"

The smell of her alone was enough for me to push her down and try to strangle her lips with mine. I grabbed her face without thinking, but when I realized what I was about to do, I started shaking her pretty hard, hoping she hadn't noticed the red flush creeping across my face and neck. "What the heck are you doing?"

She yanked herself away, and sprawled back onto the floor like a turtle that had been flipped over. "I thought you would be uncomfortable on the floor." She gasped, "The bed would be better."

I looked over, and noticed that she had set out some extra pillows and a thick coverlet. Huffing at my stupidity, she tucked her still-wet hair behind her ears. I couldn't even smell the scent of cat on her anymore; all I could smell was that tantalizing vanilla, combined with the heat of the shower. "Thanks."

"I knew you would want to stay until Akamaru was better."

She was right. Otherwise, I would be camped outside their store from dawn til dusk.

Did she know what kind of power she had? A lock of her hair dangled in front of my face as she propped the pillows up and aired out the blankets. I wanted to grab that head of hers and bring it to mine. And with the shorts she had on, her silky tan legs were exposed to my wandering eyes. She had such beautiful legs. It made me wonder what the rest of her body looked like…

Prune-lady poked her head in, so I didn't get a chance to reach out and run my fingers against her skin. Good thing, too. Tamaki would beat the shit outta me. "Dinner's ready."

What? Dinner? It couldn't have been that long.

But, my eyes did not deceive. The sun was setting outside, and our figures threw dark shadows against the wall. Tamaki smiled at me. "My grandma is a good cook."

Fuck yeah, she was.

There was roast lamb, still on the bone. Potatoes in stew, a pot of steamed rice, a plate of fresh greens. I didn't touch those, because those didn't fit into my diet. Duh. Tamaki made sure my plate was full; I ate more than I usually did, probably because my mom couldn't cook for crap, and Hana didn't even know what cooking was. So, my room was stacked with various instant foods and snacks. Lots, and lots of snacks.

I guess Tamaki couldn't really stomach much, because I barely saw anything pass her lips, besides a cup of tea. She excused herself, and slowly shuffled upstairs. I ate her share, but I was a bit worried.

Her grandma wouldn't let me help her clean the dishes; she just shooed me upstairs. She just asked that I bring a cup of tea to Tamaki.

She was lying on her bed, with her hands over her face and her wet hair tangled around the pillows.

"Prune-lady told me to bring you some tea."

"Put it on the desk." She waved her hand in that general direction. "And don't call her that." She laughed weakly.

I put the glass down. "You might want to drink it soon; it'll get cold."

She pat a spot on her bed, inviting me to sit. With my back facing her, I let the scent of her torture me.

It was comfortable in her room; not too hot, not too cold. The heat from her radiated against my back, and it made me feel sleepy. Would she mind if I curled up next to her?

"Does it ever scare you?" She whispered.

Losing the ones you loved? Opening up to her? Lowering my walls, only to be afraid of losing myself again? Thinking about what could have been, and all of the things that I had done wrong?

"What does?"

"Blood."

You have got to be _kidding_ me.

This chick was a fucking vet. And she was scared of _blood_.

I was shaking as I choked back my laughter. She slapped me on the back. "No, no it doesn't."

"Don't laugh." She sounded so weak, so I stopped.

"I don't like it." She added.

I guess I could understand. "It doesn't bother me; I've slaughtered hundreds of people. It's just sorta… numbing." Numbing. Yeah. That was a welcoming feeling now.

"I was afraid Akamaru was going to die."

"But, you didn't let him."

She found something funny, because it took her awhile to reply over the giggles. "I can't lose my chance with you." She said, half-jokingly.

Why was it so hard to give myself to her? She was literally perfect.

I didn't say anything. I didn't know how to reply.

Snores.

Snores!?

She was asleep. This bitch was asleep. She was worse than Temari, sand-demon who could fall asleep while eating.

Okay, maybe not that bad. She must have been exhausted from today.

She curled up in a little ball, and it was actually really cute. Her shoulders rose and fell with each breath, and at one point, I leaned over to tickle her nose. She sneezed on me, which was significantly less cute.

I pulled the quilt over her. She didn't stir.

Quietly, I snuck out of the room and down the hall. Prune-lady was at the top of the stairs, waiting for me.

"Are you dating my grand-daughter?"

"No."

She nodded, whether in disapproval or approval, I didn't know.

No. I wasn't. Not yet.


	4. Chapter 4

Final chapter, I think.

Thanks for following along! I most likely won't be writing much soon, since I'll be going back to school. *sigh* That college life...

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Because I was eating them out of business, I was required to do more than sleep and eat while I imposed.

I was still pretty useless; if I wasn't fighting or on some sort of mission, I was either womanizing, eating, sleeping, or working out.

Well, okay. I liked to think I was a stud, but really, the womanizing stopped after Hinata. Working out stopped after I lost her. So, I was just down to eating and sleeping for now.

I just ran errands for Tamaki. I would help her around the store when customers came in, and I would also go out of town to pick special herbs and buy medicines. She liked having me around; besides having someone to talk to, it was much easier for me to pick herbs. She just showed me what she wanted, I would get a good whiff of it, and then an hour or so later, I had a whole basket-full for her.

Whenever I went out to get her something specific, I made it my mission to bring her back something unexpected. I would place it on top of the herbs in the basket; sometimes, it was a nice, polished river rock. Other times, it was a rare flower I stumbled across. Once, I brought her a small bundle of wild mushrooms, which prune-lady used in some amazing stew. The little gifts made her smile. And that cheered me up.

Akamaru was recovering well; a little too slowly for my taste, but recovering nonetheless. In all honesty, I think he was purposely delaying his full-recovery; Tamaki had these treats with medicine baked in that he really liked, and he just couldn't get enough of them. Go figure.

Tamaki didn't want him moving around much either; one week passed by, then two. My mom stopped by a few times to check up on me, but in all honesty, I was perfectly comfortable. In the mornings, I would help open up the shop and make fresh medicine. During the day, I either helped Tamaki with customers or I went out to get supplies. After we closed for the day, Tamaki and I would help prune-lady make dinner, we'd eat, and the two of us would go out.

I took her snacking some nights; she really liked that. "I'm a picky eater." She admitted. At first, she didn't try a lot of things. So it was just me getting fatter. But, I managed to push her out of the comfort zone, either by forcing her, or daring her. Usually, the latter worked. She bit me on one occasion with the first option.

She didn't like persimmons. That was okay; I didn't either. She liked squid though; that, I didn't like. Surprisingly, she liked red bean soup. My mom made it all the time, but it was strange considering she wasn't big on sweets.

I took her star-gazing one night, when the weather was good and it wasn't too cold.

That's the first time I really got to touch her. Like, really feel her against me.

It was on this big hill that I would go to play ball with all the neighborhood kids when I was young. It smelled like fresh grass and earth.

I laid my coat on the grass so she would be more comfortable. She blushed when I did that; she probably didn't think I noticed, since it was dark. But, I did. I picked up on the little things.

At first, we were an arms-width apart. Then, I rolled over on my side to face her, so that we were only a few inches apart. When she didn't complain, I reached out for her hand. She gave it to me.

When an evening breeze chilled her, she grabbed the front of my shirt and whined a little, so I snuggled in even closer until her frame was pressed against mine. I was warm; Inuzuka's ran a little hotter than everyone else.

It ended up with her watching the stars; I watched her instead.

When prune-lady was already asleep, Tamaki was more open and more adventurous. We went skinny-dipping in the pond behind her neighbor's house; of course, she didn't let me take any peeks at her. But, when she pulled her clothes back on afterwards and they clung to her wet skin, the shape of her body was more than clear to me.

She made me sugar cookies, too. Akamaru ate the icing and got a stomachache afterwards; Tamaki smacked him with the spoon, and I repeatedly told him how stupid he was. We were guests here; the longer we stayed, the longer we troubled them. We should've left a long time ago…

"He'll be at 100% tomorrow." She whispered to me.

We were drinking sake at her dinner table. We were quiet so we wouldn't wake up her grandmother.

I poured her another cup. "Then, we'll leave tomorrow."

"You're leaving?"

I wanted to say no. "We can't stay forever."

It didn't take us long to stop drinking out the cups and start passing the bottle back and forth.

She glared at me from the other side of the table. "I should give up on you."

Don't. Please don't. "Maybe," I laughed. "But, aren't I so damn entertaining?"

I grabbed a spoon from the counter and balanced it on my nose. She clapped at my performance. "Sure, sure. Whatever you say."

I woke up at five in the morning, on the floor of the kitchen.

Tamaki was asleep on the table, the bottle of empty sake still in her hand.

Shit, we reeked.

I threw her ungracefully over my shoulder, and slowly tredded up the stairs. She was a tiny thing, but she wouldn't untangle her arms from around my neck as I tried to put her in her bed.

"Friggen let go-" I mumbled as I tried yanking her off. Why wasn't she a kunoichi again? With strength like this… Christ… I pried her fingers loose, and she relaxed back into the pillows.

I stumbled back to my room, well, my room just for this one last night.

I woke up later than I expected.

Tamaki was already awake; I could hear her talking to customers downstairs. Akamaru jumped on the bed.

I was going to miss this place and the feeling of being welcomed.

Akamaru was going to miss Tamaki's food.

I changed into clean clothes: my clothes. Tamaki had washed them for me, so now they were clean and fresh and smelled like vanilla, too. I folded the clothes I had been borrowing and put them on the bed.

Her grandmother had breakfast set out for me; I gratefully, but sadly dug in. This, I would definitely miss. Instant food would never match this.

Tamaki had two boxes of food for me; one filled with treats, the other with whatever she had made when I was still asleep. It looked good. I just wondered if this would last us until the end of today. Maybe, she would let me work at the store when I wasn't on missions. It was a way to make some extra money and to see her…

I walked out into the store, and Tamaki was waving to yet another happy customer.

"Thanks."

She turned towards me. "You're welcome."

"Am I allowed to come back?"

She laughed and looked at prune-lady. "Is he?"

She smiled, "Don't ask me."

Tamaki winked. "Sure, you'll just have to start eating less."

I held up the lunch boxes. "You didn't have to do this."

"It's nothing, really. What would you do without me?" I flushed, and she just kept laughing.

I hadn't noticed her until she cleared her voice shyly.

Hinata.

Tamaki tensed up and glanced over at me. Even Akamaru was unnaturally still. But, the interesting thing was, I didn't feel anything. I didn't have the urge to turn tail and haul-ass out of there. There wasn't any pain, either. I didn't feel anything in particular.

"Hi, Kiba."

"Hi."

"Hi, how can I help you?" Tamaki asked. Hinata just came to pick up some fish food and a tank cleaner for Hanabi's new pet fish. I didn't understand the point of pet fish. You couldn't talk to them; you couldn't play around with them. They just swam around in that little, confined space. All they were good for was a hot meal.

When she left, she smiled at me slightly. "Bye. I'll see you around."

"Bye, Hinata."

When she had gone, Tamaki touched my shoulder gently. "You okay?"

I nodded. "Yeah," I wasn't lying.

"You sure?"

I looked at her, grinning. "Trust me."

Oh, perhaps I should ask before I left.

"Prune-lady?"

She turned from the counter, and Tamaki punched me on the arm. "I told you not to call her that!"

I winced at the sore spot, but I kept going. "I want your permission for something."

Her grandmother looked at me. "Tamaki said you could visit whenever; there's no need to ask me."

I shook my head. "Oh, no. Not that."

I reached down and grabbed Tamaki's hand. "I want your permission to date your granddaughter." I added gently. Her face turned a beautiful shade of red.

Tamaki sounded like she was choking. Prune-lady just glanced back and forth at the two of us and shrugged. "Sure. As long as that's what she wants." She shuffled into the kitchen.

"Say yes." I pressured her.

Still turning several shades darker, she shook her head and tried to pull herself from my grasp. I clung to her still. "You're not ready."

Bullshit. "I'm ready." I assured her. "I told you I would ask you when you were my number one."

"Go away." She whispered.

"C'mere." I pressed my lips against her hair, to inhale that familiar scent.

She was shaking in my arms. "Say you'll have me." I begged.

"No."

I kissed her.

"No," She still said, struggling to pull her face away.

My lips met hers again. This time, she let me. "Yes?" I asked one last time.

"Okay. Yes."

One point for Kiba.

I kissed her hard.

When we finally broke away, she added slyly, "Don't think this means you can stay for dinner every night."

Damn. One point for Tamaki.


End file.
